Aeroplane.



W. A HENLEY.

AEBOPLANE.

APPLICA'HON FILED mm. 16, I917.

Patented Aug. 14, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I- INVENTOR WITNESSES ATTORNEY .w. A HENLEY.

Aino'flmi. Mrucmo'n FILED MAR. 16'; um.

Patented A. 14,1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

IN VENTO R Wflfle/z lay WITNESSES Arronnsv w. A HENLEY.

AEROPLANE. APPLLCATION FILED MAR. I6. 1917.

v 237, a Patented Aug. 14, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WITN EsSEs 4? ATTORNEY ED r 'WI'LLOUGHBY a HENLEY. or an'rvs, OKLAHOMA.

" annormnn.

To all whom itmcy concern: v .Be it known that I', VVJLLOUGHBY A. HEN- LEY, a citizen of the United States, residing v at Altu's, in the county of Jackson and State .of Oklahoma, have invented new and useful Improvements in Aeroplanes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to aeroplanes and has particularreference to means for automatically stabilizing the machine in flight, the stabilizin means 0 crating both laterally and in a ore and a directi nto maintain the equilibrium of the machine both laterally and longitudinally while in actual flight without any attention onthe part of;

the aviator. I

A further object of the invention is to provide stabilizing-means which will not interfere with; the manual control ofv the stabilizing planes and horizontal rudder as when rising, descending or steering ,in any direction. The stabilizing apparatus hereinafter particularly described and illustratedin the drawings is of such a character that it may be used in conjunction with .an aeroplane of any type such area monoplane,

biplane or multiplanea 'With' the above and are bjeas in view,

the invention consists in the: novel construction, combination and arrangement of claimed.

In the accompanying drawings Figure l is a plan view of the machine showing the stabilizing'mea'ns in its applied relation thereto. l

Fig. 2' is a-verti cal longitudinal section particularly illustrating the means for autoparts, hereinafter described, illustrated and 'matically controlling the horizontal rudder or fore and aft stabilizing plane.

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section on the line 3--3 of Fi 1 particularly illustrat-.

ing the lateral sta ilizing means.

ig. 4 is a diagrammatic perspective view illustrating the complete stabilizing apparatus. v The aeroplane-which may be of any desired type, is shown as comprising a main supporting plane 1, a tail frame or fuselage 2, and 3 a horizontal rudder forming the fore and aft stabilizing plane. The main supporting plane 1 has associated therewith and flexibly connected thereto lateral balancing or stabilizing planes 4, usually termed ailerons. The means "for automatically operating Specification of Letters Patent.

the fore and aft stabilizing plane or horizontal rudder 3, comprises a pendulum or two armed lever 5, the same being pivotally mounted at 6 between its ends on a pivot bearing, preferably of an antifriction type to insure theeasy working of the lever 5.

. Thelower end of the lev'er5 carries a weight Patented Augie, 1917.

Application filed March 16,1917. Serial No. 155,321.

7 of any suitable size which causes the lever 1 -5 to automatically assume a vertical position irrespective of the fore and aft inclina-v tion of the machine while in flight. Fastened to the upper arm of the lever 5 is a flexible connection '8 such as a cable which extends from the lever 5 to a point in ad' vancethereof where it passes around a guide 9 shown in the form of a pulley and then rearwardly where it passes from another guide 10- shown in the form'of a pulley journaledon the upper end of a post or 'standard 11, the latter extending both above and below the rear end of, the tail frame or fuselage 2. The cable 8 is attached at its rear extremityto the trailing edge of the horizontal rudder as shown' at 12. Another flexible connection or cable 13 is attached at one end to the trailing edge of the hori- 'zontal rudder 3 and extends, under a guiding pulley 14 journaled on the lower extremity of the post 11 and thence forwardly and upwardly where it issecured at its other end to the upper arm of the weighted lever 5.

p If the machine assumes too steep an angle in climbing, the weight 7 moves rearwardly causingthe upper arm of the lever to move in a forward direction and thereby pulling downwardly on the trailing edge of the hori zontal rudder 3, while the other cable at-' tached to saidhorizontal rudder and weighted lever is automatically slacked to admit of such movement of the horizontal rudder. When the machine dips too steeply, the weighted lever 5 swings in the opposite direction thereby raising the trailing edge of the horizontal rudder. Under either of the conditions last named, the fore and aft equilibrium of the machine is automatically restored- The means forautomatically controlling the lateral stability of the machine, embodies a second pendulum or weighted lever- 15 which is pivotally' mounted intermediate of its ends at 16' preferably on an antifriction bearing. The lever 15 carries a weight 17 of suitable size at its lower end causing it to always assume and maintain a vertical position. A flexible connection or cable 18 is attached at one end to the upper arm of the lever 15, extending therefrom, around a guide pulley 19, thence downwardly around a pulley 20 and thence to the trailing edge .of oneof the ailerons 4 to which it is at- Where it is terminally attached at 28 to the trailing edge of the other aileron. Another cable 29 has one end secured to the trailing edge of the last named aileron and extends upwardly over a guide pulley 30 thence transversely of the machine around another guide pulley 31 and then upwardly where it is terminally attached to the upper arm of the weighted lever 15.

By reason of the arrangement of the lateral balancing connections just hereinabove described, when the weight 17 swings toward the lower or depressed side of the machine,

. the trailing edge of the aileron at said side of the machine is depressed while the trailing edge of the aileron at the higher or ele vated side of the machine is raised. This causes a lifting of the lower side and a depression of the higher side of the machine, thereby restoring lateral equilibrium of the machine.

The guide pulleys 19, 23 and 31, are journaled upon the upper end of one of a pair of standards 32, the upper end of the other standard carrying the pulleys 24, 26 and 30. The pulley 20 is journaled upon the lower end of one of the standards 32, and the pulley 27 is journaled on the lower end of the other standard 32. Other guides or pulleys 33 are supported by the standards 32 and serve to direct the movements of the flexible connec-' tions orcables 8 and 13 which control the horizontal rudder 3, the pulleys or guides 33 being arranged equidis tantly from the center of the machine to provide for the necessary clearance or freedom of movement of the upper arm of the weighted lever 15.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings it will now be understood that one of the weighted levers automatically controls the flexible connections which in turn control the horizontal rudder for-the purpose of maintaining the fore and aft stability or equilibrium of the machine. Another weighted lever automatically controls the connections which in turn control the lateral balancing planes or ailerons for automatically maintaining the lateral equilibrium of the machine. Thus both the fore and aft and lateral equilibrium of the machine are automatically taken care of without any attention on the part of the aviator. The aviator may, however, by means of the usual manually controlled devices, overcome the action of the automatic controls whenever it is necessary to steer the machine in either an upward or downward direction or to one side or the other. While I have referred to the flexible connections as consisting of cables, it will of course be understood that any form of flexible connection may be used that will accommodate itself to the movements necessary toeasily control the stabilizing planes.

I claim In an aeroplane, the combination of a sup-' porting'surfaee, a weighted lever pivotally mounted in relation thereto, lateral balancing planes whose trailing edges are capable of being moved upwardly and downwardly, flexible connections attached to .said lever and to the trailing edges of said lateral balancing planes for elevating the trailing edges said lever and to said lateral balancing planes and acting to depress the trailing edges thereof, the arrangement of said flexible connections being such that the trailing edge of one lateral balancing plane is elevated simultaneously with the depression of the trailing edge of the other-lateral balancing plane, standards arranged at opposite sides of the longitudinal center of the machine and ex tending above and below the supporting sun face, guiding means for said flexible connections supported by the upper and lower extremities of said standards, a second weighted lever adapted to swing in a fore and aft direction and pivotally mounted in relation to said supporting surface, a fore and aft stabilizing plane, flexible connections extending from said second weighted lever to the trailing edge of said fore and aft stabilizing plane for raising .and depressing the latter, and guiding means on said standards for directing the last named flexible connections, said'guiding means being located in spaced relation to each other and equidistantly from the longitudinal center of the machine to provide clearance for the first named weighted lever.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

WILLOUGHBY A. HENLEY.

- thereof, other flexible connections attached to 

